The first clue that baseball would play a rollicking, recurring role in the Haferkamp family's lives revealed itself in a delivery room at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif.
At the exact moment Steve and Dayna's second son, Jack, arrived in late-July 2005, dad and the doctor noticed on a nearby TV that Padres infielder Mark Loretta was in the process of doubling to left field against the Cincinnati Reds.
Nearly 11 years later, Steve poked at Jack: "Maybe we should have named you Mark, huh?"
Baseball, after all, has fueled plenty of decisions for the Carlsbad, Calif., family. The idea to visit every park in Major League Baseball, for example, was hatched in the time it took the Haferkamps to polish off a batch of pancakes one morning in their kitchen.
The resulting book "Let's Hit 'Em All" provides a park-side seat as one committed family crisscrossed North America for five summers to soak up all the hot dogs, mascots, autograph wrangling and seventh-inning stretching baseball had to offer.
They sang "Sweet Caroline" at Boston's Fenway Park until goosebumps joined the chorus. They mingled with rally monkeys in Anaheim. They fist-bumped Yankees manager Joe Girardi in Central Park. They watched sausages race in Milwaukee _ and oversized presidents do the same in the nation's capital.
They dove, hearts- and wallet-first, into a uniquely American pastime.
"Once you go to the first one," Steve said, "you kind of get the bug."
Now, the family is appearing at the All-Star Game's FanFest and will be mentioned in the official program as the game returns to San Diego for the first time since 1992.
So, how did the odyssey start? The family attended the May 24, 2009, game between the Cubs and Padres at Petco Park. Jack and his brother, Grant, were selected to walk on the field and bark "Play Ball!" over the public-address system.
The next morning, as pancakes browned, the nearly 4- and 6-year-old masterminds explained a proposal to their parents.
"By the end of breakfast we were like, 'Well, OK _ let's do this,' " Steve said. "I'm not an impulse guy, but we wanted to create a family legacy and thought it would be a great way to see the U.S."
The family decided to forgo annual summer vacations to Disneyland or Hawaii to focus on one bat-cracking goal. They strategized _ flights on Southwest Airlines to avoid changing fees, rooms at Marriott where mom and dad had built up loyalty discounts _ yet still invested an estimated $30,000 to reach the ultimate baseball fan's finish line.
And they haven't second-guessed a single nickel.
"I think that's what this whole thing is about _ spending quality time with family at a ballpark on a beautiful day," Dayna said. "There's nothing better."
The book considers baseball holistically, from the music and food to its most memorable quirks. In the eyes of the Haferkamps, the game is about experiences _ not earned-run averages.
Baseball speaks without words about its geography (crab cakes at Baltimore's Camden Yards), its personality (Randy Newman's Dodger Stadium anthem, "I Love L.A.) and its history (ivy-covered walls at the Cubs' Wrigley Field).
They wanted to see it, smell it, hear it _ in every nacho-smeared nook and cranny.
For Grant, 13, the trip provided indelible memories of favorites like friendly former Reds player Todd Frazier and the boundless energy of Rockies mascot Dinger. Smiles return for Jack when he thinks about the 18-inch corn dogs at Oakland Coliseum and images of the Pirates' ornery parrot targeting the family wearing Padres gear with a water gun at Pittsburgh's PNC Park.
The plan packed about a half-dozen parks into summer trips that ranged from nine to 11 days. They technically visited 31 venues, hitting both the former and current homes of Miami's Marlins.
The Haferkamps crossed paths with legends and _ on one night _ shared in baseball history. On July 2, 2013, the family watched as Homer Bailey pitched a no-hitter in a tense, 3-0 victory against the Giants at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park.
They roared when Reds first baseman Joey Votto, on a groundball to first base in the seventh inning, gunned down Gregor Blanco at third when it was clear Buster Posey would beat Bailey to first. It was the first time since Nolan Ryan in the mid-1970s that a pitcher collected the final no-hitter of one season and the first a season later.
They peeled off to see the Louisville Slugger factory and Iowa's Field of Dreams. They learned that the Giants order about 700 dozen baseballs for spring training. They debated family walk-up music, pitting the Scorpions against Dean Martin and The Sugarhill Gang.
They tested whether there's life beyond cell phones, video games and binge-able TV.
What they found: baseball's wholesomeness and heart.
Former Padres manager Bud Black heard the boys were heartbroken after losing a baseball with 24 signatures from his team. Black, who wrote the forward for the book, sent the family a handwritten note and three balls peppered with autographs.
The journey finally ended at Target Field in Minneapolis for the 2014 All-Star Game.
Or did it?
"It's kind of sad that it's over," Dayna said.
Then her eyes lit up: "We didn't go to Cooperstown. Maybe we're not done."
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